A reader pointed me to this unbelievable scenario.
You are a physician. Your patient smokes. Your patient sues you because of your failure to warn them of the dangers of smoking or to treat them. I am mocked by others for constantly telling patients of the hazards of smoking. I constantly tell patients Have you heard the rumor? Smoking is bad for you. And readers here blast me by saying all smokers know it's bad for them. That they don't need me to harp on their bad habits.
So what's the deal? Why don't we sue all the states for not enacting smoking bans? Heck, why don't we sue the Uncle Sam? Why don't we sue all insurance companies? They all know the dangers of smoking and fail to enact legislation to help smokers quit. The best way to make smokers quit is to
Problem solved. Going after physicians is the wrong course of action. Going after smokers is. And you do that by making them take personal responsibility for their actions.
You are a physician. Your patient smokes. Your patient sues you because of your failure to warn them of the dangers of smoking or to treat them. I am mocked by others for constantly telling patients of the hazards of smoking. I constantly tell patients Have you heard the rumor? Smoking is bad for you. And readers here blast me by saying all smokers know it's bad for them. That they don't need me to harp on their bad habits.
So what's the deal? Why don't we sue all the states for not enacting smoking bans? Heck, why don't we sue the Uncle Sam? Why don't we sue all insurance companies? They all know the dangers of smoking and fail to enact legislation to help smokers quit. The best way to make smokers quit is to
- Make it too expensive. The House of Representatives passed a bill on January 14th to increase the federal excise taxes from $.39 to $1.00. I say that's not enough. It should be triple that, at a minimum. Price smokers out of their market. In America, money talks.
- Make it socially unacceptable. States need to ban smoking in all public places. Because the constitutional heads cry foul if the federal government tries to do it, we should have the feds withhold all state Medicaid dollars from states that fail to enact tough antismoking laws. Nationwide public policy enacted at the state level, so as to not hurt any feelings. "Smoking is the only consumer product, that when used as intended, kills one out of every two lifetime users." If we are going to sue physicians for failure to intervene, we should also sue all states and the feds and insurance companies as well.
- Make it illegal.
Problem solved. Going after physicians is the wrong course of action. Going after smokers is. And you do that by making them take personal responsibility for their actions.
Don't you know that you're in America? How dare you talk about personal responsibility, you cruel man!
ReplyDeletehappy i bet readers want you sued. yeah people know smoking is bad until they get cancer after that its physician fault for not telling them.
ReplyDeleteWell, you could make all doctors federal employees like those at the VA to make them immune from lawsuits. It is very hard to sue a VA doctor (if at all?).
ReplyDeleteI almost started crying when I read that. I just want to give up. Call me bitter and disenchanted. I really did have this idea of "helping people" when I started this whole "being a doctor thing". But, boy, this is what beats it out of me. Along with a billion other little things.
ReplyDeleteThis is the sort of nanny-state crap that aggravates people. Price smokers out of their market (using punative taxes]? Outlaw my once-yearly cigar, that I use to light fireworks, and remember my grandfather? [spits].
ReplyDeleteNow, what would make more sense, AND be acceptable to the conservatives, would be: add up the cost of caring for smoker-related illnesses, divide it by the number of packs sold, make that the tax. Poof! The problem becomes its own solution. And I bet it would be more than a sissy $3.00/pack.
And it still allows those who can in moderation, enjoy their vices.
Yes, but then credit smokers for lesser likelihood of spending Soc Security $$ due to lower life expectancy, less need for SNF, home health, diapers. Beacuse if someone will not develop lung Ca or MI from smoking he/she will definitely develop something else.
ReplyDeleteA few years later....